The story takes place during the 19th century when a mother and daughter are found murdered. Emmett Fields is a Baltimore detective who is brought in to investigate. When he discovers that the murders are very similar to a story written by Edgar Allen Poe. They bring the writer in to ask him questions as he is currently the only suspect. During their questioning another murder is committed and they ask the writer to help investigate and find the murderer as it seems he is committing the murders based onsome of the writers short stories. The writer gets heavily involved as his girlfriend soon becomes oneof the victims. This was a little different than I was expecting. It turned out to be more of a murder mystery than an all out Horror flick. It was kind of dark and had a few gory parts to it though. I am a big fan of Edgar Allen Poe and thought John Cusack did a great job portraying him. Even if your not a fan of Poe's work you can still enjoy the film!